Saracens v Stade Toulousain Champions Cup Preview

Last time these 2 met
By saracensfan62
January 6 2026

I feel I am not alone in saying that I am very nervous yet very excited for this weekend. What a game it could be. French Giants Toulouse visiting us at StoneX on Sunday. From where we were 20 or even 15 years ago, this really is a special occasion. I think there has been a lot of negativity recently with how the team have been playing and operations around the club, and I confess I have been negative in my attitude having watched some of the less good performances. We’ve been consistently inconsistent with a real mixed bag of results, from thumping wins over Clermont, Sale and Bristol and then disappointing losses to Bath, Northampton and Exeter. Recent losses have raised a lot of questions about the attitude in the squad and cohesion under the coaching team. Toulouse, on the other hand, have had a fabulous last few years, winning 5 out of the last 6 Top14's and numerous champions cup titles. Nonetheless, we sit level on points with Toulouse in the table, with 1 win and 1 loss from our first two games. Admittedly Toulouse have faced Sharks and enjoyed a dominant 56-19 win at the Stade Ernest Wallon, and Glasgow at the Scotstoun, which they lost. We have faced Clermont and Sharks (lets face it, Clermont are nowhere near the team they used to be) in south Africa. Barring some rubbish decision making by us late on (why did we go for a lineout when it was tipping down with rain?), we really should’ve won that game. This game really could be crucial in determining the final places in the pool. As a reminder, the top 2 in the pool get a home RO16, the middle 2 get an away RO16, 5th place gets a berth in the challenge and 6th place is eliminated. Whilst an away trip to France could be fun, I would sooner see us get a home knockout match. Makes all the difference with the home crowd behind you!

Key Matchups

Owen Farrell vs Romain Ntamack (Battle of the 10s) – I think McCall and co were resting Farrell for the Leicester game so he could come into the Toulouse game all guns blazing. Farrell’s tactical kicking and game control will be vital against Ntamack and the blistering pace that the Toulouse backs will bring, plus Ntamack’s almost always perfect decision-making, and ability to change momentum. Dupont’s return to full fitness adds an extra layer for Saracens to contain, since he can switch inbetween the 9 and 10 roles too.

Rhys Carre, Jamie George and Marco Riccioni vs Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand and Dorian Aldhegri - accuracy in the tight five will be crucial, but not more so than in the front row. Toulouse have a formidable front row, all French internationals and some of the best scrummagers out there. Some would say the pack is anchored by Julien Marchand/Peoto Mauvaka at hooker, and is traditionally dominant at the set-piece. We will need our lineout operators to be on form and disrupt as much as they can. If Toulouse can settle into a rhythm provided by their forwards, we really do not stand much of a chance.

Battle of the Willis Bros – firstly before I come to the Willis brothers, Anthony Jelonch, Francois Cros and Jack Willis against Juan Martin-Gonzalez, Ben Earl and Tom Willis will be a phenomenal matchup. Toulouse have such depth they can bring on more international level backrowers and will offer physicality and breakdown aggression throughout the entire game. Now onto Jack vs Tom. Both are absolute horrors to try and tackle, both of them are superb around the breakdown and both bring so much energy and fight to the packs. It is almost impossible to call it. If only we could get to see this kind of matchup every weekend!

Back 3 Matchup – It will be fascinating to see the back 3 of Toulouse (Kinghorn, Teddy Thomas and Ramos) up against our back 3 (I’m guessing Caluori, Segun and Daly). I am expecting us to play Caluori to challenge and/or nullify the aerial threat of Kinghorn and keep Ramos on his toes when placing contestable kicks due to the threat he brings aerially and ball in hand. After watching the last few games, Noah will likely get the nod ahead of Malins.

Sarries’ Game Plan and Tactical Outlook

Structured Phases from the Forwards: I will expect us to use close-up ball to build pressure and recycle quickly through the rucks. Brings up the question – who do we start at scrum-half? Its fair to say Ivan vZ has not been at his best so far this season, and if we wish to cement Bracken as the future 9 with the incoming Tomos Williams guiding him, do we gamble and start him against Dupont? I am not going to offer my own opinion here, feel free to discuss this in the comments.

Territory & Tactical Kicking: Saracens will look to control field position using Farrell’s and Daly’s boot and force Toulouse to play from deep. Toulouse won’t be unhappy about this, what with back 3 who can create something from nothing, but at the same time if we can pin Toulouse back in their half, there’s the possibility of breakdown penalties and notching 3 points to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Slow the Ball at the Breakdown: To prevent Toulouse’s dynamic backs from getting ball in space. Nothing more to be said about this, we will need to do our best to stop the attacks coming in from all angles out wide, and channel them so that they either have to go through our forwards (no easy task).

Toulouse’s Game Plan and Tactical Outlook

Physical Front Five: Toulouse’s scrum and maul strength will be key — they will look to impose themselves very early in tight areas and build into the game. I am concerned about Flament and Meafou against our locks. Both are superb aerial operators
High-Tempo Backline Play: With Ntamack and Dupont, Toulouse can stretch defences wide once position is gained and break the line almost effortlessly. Dupont in particular is phenomenal at this.
Clean Ball From Set Piece: Efficient lineouts and scrums will give Toulouse strong attacking platforms. Sarries will attempt to disrupt this, but if unsuccessful, could leave weaknesses to be exploited.

Just compiled a few other factors which might impact the game:

- Weather & Pitch (StoneX) — A slick surface might favour quick ball and tactical kicking — good news for fly-half operators. However the weather forecast for Sunday is a chilly 5 degrees and sleet. Not ideal for handling and fast, attacking rugby!

- Travel – it is always said French teams do not travel well (maybe apart from Castres this time last season!) so we will have to see what the effects of the plane has on Toulouse.

- Bench Impact — Depth could decide the late stages; Toulouse’s rotation during big games has paid dividends and allows for key players to enter games refreshed and raring to go!

Selection and Talking Points

I haven’t had a go at predicting the lineups recently, so thought I’d try my luck again now.

My predicted Sarries lineup is:

15 – Elliot Daly
14 – Noah Caluori
13 – Lucio Cinti
12 – Nick Tompkins
11 – Rotimi Segun
10 – Owen Farrell (c)
9 – Ivan van Zyl
8 – Tom Willis
7 – Ben Earl
6 – Juan Martin-Gonzalez
5 – Hugh Tizard
4 – Maro Itoje
3 – Marco Riccioni
2 – Jamie George
1 – Rhys Carre

16 – Theo Dan
17 – Eroni Mawi
18 – Marcus Street
19 – Harry Wilson
20 – Andy Onyeama-Christie
21 – Charlie Bracken
22 – Fergus Burke
23 – Max Malins

And my predicted Toulouse lineup is:

15 – Thomas Ramos
14 – Teddie Thomas
13 – Mathis Lebel
12 – Pita Akhi
11 – Blair Kinghorn
10 – Romain Ntamack
9 – Antoine Dupont
1 – Rodrigue Neti
2 – Julien Marchand
3 – Dorian Aldegheri
4 – Emmanuel Meafou
5 – Thibaud Flament
6 – Francois Cros
7 – Jack Willis
8 – Alexandre Roumat

16 – Peoto Mauvaka
17 – Cyril Baille
18 – George Henris-Colombe
19 – Leo Banos
20 - Anthony Jelonch
21 – Paul Graou
22 – Juan Cruz-Mallia
23 – Paul Costes

A couple of notable omissions for our team include Nick Isiekwe and Alex Lozowski. Lozo is just coming back from injury, highly doubt he’d be risked against a fully-loaded Toulouse side, especially when he had a below-average game vs Leicester. As for Nick, Harry Wilson brings a significant amount of physicality and scrum ballast and can offer more up-front. Having Wilson the bench offers the threat of even more physicality. I like the idea of our own bomb squad of Mawi, Dan and Street to stabilise the scrum should things not be going to plan. As for Toulouse, I expect Kinghorn will move to the wing to counter the threat of Caluori and a centre combo of Lebel/Ahki could cause all kinds of problems if we don't shut them down on the ball.

For the future, the question concerning the halfbacks and midfield does need to be asked. It seems we have been playing significantly better with Burke @10, Faz moving to 12 to act as a 2^nd distributor and carry the ball to the line, and Tompkins 13 operating in wider channels. What is frustrating is when we see Nick at 12 and used as a crashball runner, when he thrives best with room to work around his opponents and use his footwork to evade defenders. I wonder if Olly Hartley can fill the Barritt-esque hole left at 12. That perhaps is a question for future matches.

Prediction and Final Thoughts

This one could be close. Typically Sarries do turn up for big games like this one (its part of the wolfpack DNA) but I will take the realist view. Albeit a negative prediction, I’m going to say Toulouse by 4. I reckon it’ll be a close match, and if we can strengthen that final 20 minute passage (our biggest weakness this season, conceding points late on), we could be in with a good shout.
All that’s left to say is good luck to the team, we’ll need it. As supporters, we need to generate a great atmosphere and ensure StoneX is absolutely rocking to support our boys in what will probably be the toughest game of recent seasons. Come on you Sarries!

Saracens v Stade Toulousain Champions Cup Preview

Posted by: TheSaracens.com (IP Logged)

Date: 06/01/2026 14:46

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:01:19:15:22:06 by Darraghgirl.